Our own universe
by Tianna Black
Summary: Hermione and Draco, after being sent to detention, find themselves in a Hogwarts that seems to be completely empty. Not knowing how to go back, they become everything the other one has. Strange things start happening after the "Dragon games" are announced, and Draco suspects that it all has to do with his relationship with You-Know-Who.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"I cannot believe that they are making me doing this. If…" Draco Malfoy broke the chilling silence, repeating the usual sentence he used every time he found himself in a bad situation. He was walking towards the Forbidden Forest, his fists flinching.

He wasn't talking to himself though. Two steps behind him, there was a brown-haired girl. The wind made her curls cover the most of her face, making it hard for her to see where she was going. Her black robe was wet, due to the rain. She had to hold her hat to keep it on her head.

"Would you, please, hold your mouth?!" she interrupted him, having enough of hearing the same sentence frequently. She wasn't happy about being outside in the storm either, but remembering what she'd done, it seemed like a fair punishment for her.

Hermione Granger was famous for her flawless grades and her impeccable behavior. She did break the rules occasionally, but it usually was only to help Harry protect Hogwarts and himself. And usually, she wouldn't be sent to detention, but rewarded with fifty points for Gryffindor and winning the house cup. Usually, but not this time.

This time she'd actually thought that she'd be expelled, and she should've been. Unable to understand why Mrs. McGonagall decided to send her to a spooky walk in the Forbidden Forest instead, she just kept walking, thinking of what made her land in such a situation. She remembered. Exhaling deeply, as if trying to exhale the memory of the event out of her head, she thought of her friends and what they'd been doing. They'd been separated for a couple of hours only, but having Malfoy next to her made her miss them a great deal.

On the other side, Draco didn't really care about Hermione being there. He didn't have a problem with ignoring her. What bothered him much more was the fact, that McGonagall, who had nothing to do with his house, sent him to detention too, and that Snape hadn't tried to stop her. He was seventeen, and they treated him like a little kid. He knew that he had more important things to do, even if they didn't.

He tried to forget those things, but he couldn't. The wind's howling caressed his ears, giving him chills. The rain sounded like a snake, speaking to him.

"It's up to you now" he heard it saying. "Kill him, and then we can accomplish great things together. You'll become big, Draco, fighting bravely by my side".

"Make it stop!" he shouted, not even noticing how deep he sunk into his hallucinations. He almost fell on the ground, but managed to keep the balance in the last second.

"I can't make the rain stop" Hermione said, looking at him strangely. She knew that the rain wasn't what he meant, but she didn't want him to say the truth out loud. The whole night she'd be hunting beasts in the forest next to him, and she knew that he was more dangerous than all the monsters there combined. Inconspicuously, she moved even further away from him.

Draco didn't seem to notice her talking, not the first time she told him to shut up, neither this time. On his surprise, the rain became more silent, until it completely disappeared. The wind was still howling, but with the rain gone, it actually felt nice.

He used to love the cold when he was a child. His favorite season was winter, when there had been wind and snow everywhere, and the cold had not been a sign for the reincarnation of the Dark Lord. Shaking his head, he tried to shuttle the thought out of his brain. It was driving him crazy, killing him.

For the first time that evening, he took notice of Hermione's actions. All of a sudden, she changed her track and went to the east.

"Did something hit your head on the way here?" he asked. "The forest is down the way, same way as all these years".

Hermione turned around proudly, ignoring his sarcasm completely.

"If you're willing to stay outside and wait for another storm to come and blow you away, it's your decision. I definitely am not".

"Is that so?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "And where does your genius plan on staying?"

"Hagrid's" she answered, as she came closer to the small house.

"Have fun then, I'm not entering that ramshackle hut" he answered, as he proceeded to walk down the landscape. He didn't feel really safe, being left alone in the forest, since all his memories of it were horrifying, but he was too proud to say it. And on the other hand, he needed to be alone. He needed a little peace and silence for himself, even if that meant that he'd have to fight despicable monsters and creatures on his own. Even if…

A scream broke the path of his thoughts.

"Granger!" he thought, instinctively running towards Hagrid's hut. He managed to be there sooner as he thought, but that occupied him very little in the moment. What he saw made him shiver, chills moving up his spine. He came closer to Hermione and protectively pulled her behind him. And then, he took full realization of the picture in front of him.

There was a silver liquid all over the floor. He realized that it was unicorn blood. But as much as he couldn't stand Hagrid, he knew that he would never even pick a hair from a magical creature. Besides, there was no dead unicorn in sight, but neither was Hagrid. In a corner of the small house, there was his coat. Draco entered, trying not to step into the small sea of unicorn blood, which was hard, since it covered the biggest part of the floor. He picked up the leather coat, discovering that it was covered with blood, real human blood.

"What happened here?" he whispered, more to himself than to Hermione.

"Hagrid must be in the woods, I need to help him!" Hermione said, turning around rapidly, making her way to the forest, but Draco was still holding her.

"Are you stupid?" he asked, not letting go of her ankle. "You'll enter the forest and get yourself killed. Besides, if he is hunting something that killed a unicorn, he's dead by now anyway".

Hermione's eyes filled with tears. She couldn't believe that someone could be that cold and emotionless. She looked directly into his eyes, and for a moment she got so scared, that she had to look away immediately.

Draco didn't miss that.

He let go of her, slightly pushing her towards the castle. It meant that she needed to go back there, and she understood, which, of course, didn't mean that she agreed. Even though she knew that Draco's words were most probably truth, at least she needed to try and find Hagrid. But before she was able to say or do anything, Draco has left her there, entering the forest alone.

"He deserves to be in there on his own" she thought, convincing herself to stay outside the woods. "But you're not Gryffindor for no reason" she thought again, convincing herself of the opposite now.

"You need to save your friend"

"Who cares about Malfoy"

And after a long argument with herself, she run into the woods, not even thinking of turning back.

But it wasn't the Forbidden Forest that she'd entered. It wasn't anything familiar to her. The earth started spinning faster, and the atmosphere seemed to be gone. She got no air, and no ground under her feet. It felt like being thrown around by a typhoon. It was too hard to resist. She closed her eyes, hoping that she would live long enough to see Hagrid, Harry and Ron again.

She opened her eyes, enjoying the soft comfort of her bed in the girls' dormitory.

"What a dream" she said, as she stood up. The first thing she noticed was that everyone else was gone to their classes already. Panicking because she was late, she quickly jumped to the closet, wanting to put her robe on. But surprisingly, the closet was empty, and her robe was on her. She was fully dressed already.

For a moment, she wondered, but then it struck her. It was impossible. She knew very well what she'd done and it was everything but a dream. She wanted it to be a nightmare, but it wasn't. And the night before, the woods spinning like insane, it wasn't a dream either. It was all real.

She realized that she should probably look for someone, ask them for help, but as she was soon to find out, there was nobody. Hogwarts was empty. It seemed like everyone just went out for lunch or to enjoy a sunny day outside, but they weren't, since there was nobody outside the castle either.

She realized that the only smart thing to do was to look for Malfoy. She hoped that they landed in the same universe, since it didn't make any sense to her if they weren't, but was there anything that did make sense in the whole story? She couldn't tell. So, she was on her way, running towards the Slytherin's dormitory.

Draco was awake, sitting on his bed. His eyes were open, but he didn't seem fully aware of what was going on around him, or better said, what wasn't, since there was no single trace of life in Hogwarts. He also was fully dressed, not wearing his robe, but some other clothes he'd been wearing yesterday. They were still wet, which made him wonder if he was in a place separated from space and time. It was possible, and he felt that only strong black magic would've been able to make that possible. Was it Voldemort? He shivered at the sound of the name in his head. It was scary, which didn't mean it was impossible. Why else would he be sent to a different dimension exactly in the moment of serving his detention without a teacher? There was someone who knew that he'd be alone there, someone who wanted him to be alone so badly, that they probably killed Hagrid and sucked unicorn blood to gain enough power to get on with their plan.

All of a sudden, the door to his room went open. His heart skipped a beat.

Hermione, who burst into his room like a little kid, was out of breath now. She needed a moment to recover, and Draco seemed to need it too.

"There is no one! We're alone!" she said, sounding like Voldemort in person would stand in front of her.

"Wow, ten points for Gryffindor, for Granger's genius showing out" he said sarcastically.

Obviously insulted, Hermione didn't say anything for a moment, thinking what to answer him. She had some ideas of what to respond, but then, as if realizing that Voldemort's future best man was standing in front of her, she just turned away and shut the door behind her.

"Vain idiot" she thought, as she walked, not really knowing where. She went to a place in the garden where she, Harry and Ron spent most of their time when the days were sunny. She sat down, hugging her knees and looking in the landscape, hoping that an explanation would strike her as soon as possible, so she could see her boyfriend and her best friend as soon as possible.

Malfoy could stand Hermione as little as she could stand him. The long years of the hate between him and Harry left their trace. And now, she also was Ron's girlfriend, which made him hate her even more. He hated Weasley for no obvious reason. He just did, because he wasn't as good as Malfoy. And then, there was something which made him hate Hermione directly. Trough her veins flossed muggle-blood, something which made him need to vomit.

He stood up, deciding that it was time for him to search for a way back. He needed to go back to real Hogwarts, finish his detention, finish the task the Dark Lord gave him…

His head got all dizzy as he thought about the creature which represented pure evil. As much as he hated Potter, he hated Voldemort even more. The only thing that prevented him from stepping out and doing everything possible to get his life back to normal was fear, settled deep down in his soul.

He left the room, shouting:

"Granger, wait!"

There was no response, even though it was obvious that she could hear him. There was no other sound to be heard, not the wind, nor the birds, nothing except of his voice. He saw her sitting in the garden. Unhappy about doing it, but knowing that there was nothing he could do on his own, he went to her.

She didn't seem to take notice of him. She seemed to be sunk deep in her thoughts, but she wasn't. He knew that, he wasn't stupid, and she knew that he knew. But still, she didn't want to look into his eyes. She was still too scared.

"What are we going to do?" he asked, standing next to her.

She did her best to ignore him, not really knowing what the right thing to do was. She was a good liar, but the fear she sensed when Draco was around was too great. She couldn't pretend anything under such pressure.

"Granger, if you want to stay here forever, fine. I cannot, I have stuff to do. Just help me find a way out and then don't bother standing up ever again" he said.

And once again, her eyes filled with tears. At first, she thought it was only because of fear. He was standing next to her. He could lose his mind and kill her anytime. And he was asking her for help, something what seemed like only one more enigma for her to solve, but she knew it wasn't. Without her rod, she couldn't think of anything to do.

"Wait, what?" she said, suddenly standing up and searching for something in her robe. "Where's my rod?"

Draco looked stunned. His rod was gone too. How could he not notice that?

"It's gone" he said, as if asking if it was true.

"How am I supposed to find a way out without my rod?" the girl almost screamed, but every silent sound was already too loud, since there was nothing else to be heard.

"Damn it" Draco said. "This is so damn impossible, I need to wake up right now, it isn't funny anymore".

Hermione shivered. He seemed getting angry, which she didn't want to happen.

"I think that we should search for something in the library" she said, searching for approval in his eyes.

Without saying a word, he started walking, followed by Hermione.

The room was dark. As soon as he walked in, his face got covered with a spider web. He took it off, cursing something silently. Their search for books brought them into the scary, strictly forbidden part of the library, but since there was no one who could send them to detention again, they didn't bother breaking the rules. They entered, looking for anything which could help them find a way back.

After what seemed like hours of searching, it got dark outside, which made the room become even darker. It got almost impossible to read. Sure, they could've just turned the lights on, but they were both too tired to do so.

"I think we should keep searching for it tomorrow" Draco said. It was hard for him to concentrate on anything, and going to sleep seemed to be a good opportunity for his head to cool down.

Without saying anything, Hermione stood up. She took a book with her, one that she didn't read in the library. She knew that she wouldn't sleep when she got to the dormitory. How could anyone sleep in her situation?

Draco went to the Slytherin's dungeon, Hermione to the Gryffindor's.

Without even noticing, the both of them fell asleep.

In the next three days nothing changed. Hermione got out of Draco's way, and he did the same. She promised to tell him if she found out anything, and since she didn't, she had nothing to talk to him about.

Then one evening, they were just about to go to sleep. Hermione left the library a few moments earlier than Draco did. He stayed there a little longer, since he found a book he wanted to read. He told her that it was about portals, when in fact, it was about dark magic and how to unbind your soul from it. Of course, he didn't want her to know that he was working for the Dark Lord, even though he knew that she suspected something.

So, he was just about to leave and go to sleep, when he heard a loud scream. He run towards the Gryffindor's dungeon and couldn't be any happier that even the pictures were gone. He had no idea what he would've done if the fat lady asked him for the password, while Hermione was probably dying inside.

He ran inside, hearing screams once again. He went up the staircase. What he saw up there made him freeze.

A giant, three headed snake was hissing on Hermione. The girl was with her back to the wall, crying and screaming.

He almost vomited from the strength of the headache he felt. He needed to handle, but his head was too dizzy and he felt like losing the balance. All of a sudden, Draco realized that he was holding his rod.

"Avada Ke…" he was just about to say it, when he realized that the fear in Hermione's eyes wasn't only because of the snake. He hated Hermione, he couldn't stand her, but strangely, he didn't want her to fear him. Years ago, he would've, but then he met the Dark Lord. He saw what he was doing to people, to wizards. He remembered that for a long while there were people who didn't want to tell his name out loud, and who still don't do it, and he didn't want to become that man one day.

"Evanesco" he shouted, and the snake vanished.

Hermione fell on the ground, crying so hard that she couldn't stop it. She was scared, no, more than that, she was terrified. She wished Ron and Harry would be there with her. She missed Ron infinitely.

Draco went closer, kneeling next to her.

"Gra…Hermione, it's gone now" he said, touching her shoulder.

She flinched, feeling his cold hand touching her. It wasn't unnoticed by him, so he rapidly moved his hand away.

She still sobbed, trying to calm down. She wasn't sure what she was more afraid of, the fact that there were monsters all around them and that her rod was gone, or the fact that Draco Malfoy was with her, he, who almost spoke out one of the three unforgivable curses, the killing curse.

"I think it's the best if I stay here tonight" Draco said, knowing that if anything happened to Hermione, he would be on his own, and the chances of returning to the real world would be equal to zero.

Hermione just nodded, unable to say anything. She got up and took a seat on her bed.

"Do you…" Draco said, making a little pause to find the right way of asking the question, "…want me to sleep here, in this room?"

She didn't say anything. She didn't know. She hated being asked questions she didn't know the answer to. No matter if it was schoolwork or "real" life, she didn't want it.

"Fine then" Draco said, leaving the room. "I'll be in the boys' dormitory" he said, leaving the room.

"Wait, Draco" she finally managed to say something. "Stay here, I don't want to be alone".


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Hermione woke up, again hoping that it would all just be a dream, but as every time she wished it, it wasn't. She stood up, just about to change her clothes, when she realized that Draco was gone. The first thing she could think of was the monster from the past evening. It was a three-headed snake, threatening to kill her. If Draco hadn't come to make it disappear, she would most probably be dead. But he did come, and stayed in her room for the night. Which meant, that monster, or maybe another creature from the insane world they've been in, had taken him while Hermione was still asleep. She would've thought that Malfoy left and looked for a way back to real world on his own, but he'd left his rod on the coffee table. A wizard goes nowhere without his rod.

She grabbed the rod and left the room, running. She didn't know where to search for him first. Was the forbidden forest a good idea? Or the Slytherin's common room, since the monster was a snake? She didn't know, so she ran to the second one, which was closer. She entered the dungeon, hearing something which sounded like snake-hissing. It was horrifying. She ran upstairs to the boy's dorm, almost crashing into the door, but she managed to open it in time.

"Draco!" she shouted, holding the rod already prepared for attack.

But instead of a dead Draco and a monstrous snake over him, she found the young man wearing only his jeans, his hair wet, his abs showing.

What she'd heard was no snake-hissing, it was running water.

Draco looked at her strangely, not knowing why she shouted like that. She was holding his rod pointing towards him, which made the situation really awkward for both of them. It took her a moment to realize what was going on. Then she took the rod down rapidly.

"I…" she stuttered, "I thought you were being attacked". She felt her face getting red, so she went on, "I better go now" she said, inhaling deeply.

He couldn't help but smile. He didn't remember when a girl acted so cute in front of him. And on top of that, it was Hermione Granger, the girl who always had to be the best, not letting anyone hurt her pride. For a second, he understood why Weasley liked her that much.

"I'm done" he said, putting a T-shirt on. "I just came to take a shower in the Slytherin's dungeon since all my clothes are here".

"You forgot your rod" Hermione answered, handing it to him.

"I haven't" he said, making a small pause before he went on with his sentence. He didn't know how to express himself. She could've come to wrong thoughts. No, she was into Weasley, and he was into nobody. She knew that very well. There was no reason for feeling awkward.

"I left it there on purpose" he finally managed to say, "since you were the one who was attacked by the snake yesterday. I thought that you needed it more than I did".

Hermione smiled.

"Thanks for, um, thinking of that" she said, blushing.

They stood there for a long while, at least for them, just looking into each other's eyes. In that moment, all the hate Draco felt for muggles disappeared. He didn't even hate Potter and Weasley any more, since he completely forgot they existed. All that existed was the beautiful, muggle-blooded girl in front of him.

For her, she forgot about the fear she sensed every time he came closer. She forgot about her boyfriend, her best friend, the fact that there was a school waiting for them to return. The fact that he was on the dark side suddenly didn't exist anymore. She could've stood there and admired him for hours.

But then, they both remembered everything what was forgotten in that moment.

"Um" Hermione said "We better go to, um, the library".

"Yeah" Draco answered, taking his hand off her arm. He didn't realize that he touched her. She seemed to not have realized it either. "Library sounds good".

For the next five hours, they sat in the library, far away from each other. Draco's excuse was searching for some books which probably didn't even exist. Hermione had to sit in a corner next to the window, due to the bad lightening in the room. The excuses sounded stupid to both of them, but none of them said a word, since they tried to forget the awkwardness of the situation before.

"I can't" she heard Draco saying. She didn't know what he meant, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know it. All of a sudden, she got all afraid again.

"Um, nothing" he said "I just can't search for a solution for this whole thing anymore. I'm too tired". He was happy that he came up with that, and he hope that Hermione fell for it. He didn't have enough of searching for a way back. What he did have enough of, were the voices in his head_. Kill her now, you'll never get such an opportunity again. She's just a muggle who knows how to hold a rod, that's all. Kill her._

But he couldn't. He wasn't a murderer, and even if, he would never kill _her…_

"We can't give up now" she said, standing up, almost shouting. But then, her voice softened. "Please, Draco. I can't do this on my own" she said.

Relieved that she didn't suspect a thing, he went to the table where she was standing.

"I just had to let it out, kinda" he said, almost smiling.

"Let's have a break" Hermione said. Even Draco was surprised by that, since she could work and work, not making a pause in forever. He knew that she was doing it for him. "I know a nice place where we could go. I use to go there with Harry and Ron a lot" she said, when her voice got all quiet. She looked away, holding her tears back.

It felt unbearable for her. She missed them a lot. She spent many long years together with them, facing many challenges. What if she never saw them again, only because she was stupid and couldn't respect the rules.

"Yeah, we could use a break" he said, noticing how unhappy she looked in the moment, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

They found a nice place in the garden, which seemed to be hidden from everyone, just that there was nobody to see them. Hermione didn't say anything. Draco neither. They just sat on the grass, avoiding any eye contact.

But after a while, the silence seemed to be getting more awkward than it already was, if that was even possible. Draco felt a strong need to break it.

"Why were you given detention?" he asked, still not looking at her.

"Oh, I don't want to remember that" she said. "There was this little kid in the street where my parents live, and there were some bigger kids bullying it. They hit it frequently, so I went out to protect it, but they didn't stop. They laughed at the both of us, and one of the stupid children even threw a stone at me. That's when I lost it" she said, covering her face with both of her arms, trying to forget it.

"And you took your rod in front of the muggles and turned them all to rats" Draco laughed, imagining the situation.

"Not exactly to rats" Hermione answered, laughing too now. "What about you?"

For the first time that day, Draco actually turned to look into her eyes. She did the same.

"Now that you're asking, I have no idea" he answered. "Me, Crabbe and Goyle had a little…argument with Longbottom. And then, out of nowhere, McGonagall appeared and told me to wait for her in her office. And Snape, he just stood there and I could swear that he smiled".

"You should stop picking on Neville all the time" Hermione said, with a scolding voice. But then she remembered something and couldn't help but laugh.

"You know that I had to freeze him years ago?" she asked.

"What?!" Draco laughed, opening his eyes widely. "And I should stop picking on him."

"Yeah, we had some business to do, and he didn't want to let Harry, Ron and me pass" she said, but then, her voice sounded sad again. She looked away again, having it hard to keep eye contact.

"You miss them that much?" Draco asked.

The girl just nodded, afraid that she would burst into tears if she said anything.

"Look at, hey, look at me" he said. "We will find a way out, and then you can go and spend the rest of your life with your friends. And we'll find Hagrid too, and everything will go back to normal".

Suddenly, Hermione looked at him, as if she got the best idea of her life out of nowhere.

"Hagrid!" she said.

"What's up with him?" the boy asked, not really understanding.

"All the time that we were here, we didn't enter Hagrid's hut even once. The forest is just the door to this universe, but only if you know how to open it. Hagrid's hut is the key. Come, faster" she said.

She walked so fast towards Hagrid's hut that Draco almost had to run to keep up with her. She seemed so convinced that her theory was true. They finally reached Hagrid's hut.

"That's why unicorn blood was used" Hermione whispered. "To open the portal" she smiled widely. She was so happy that she found a solution for the whole thing. All of a sudden, she put her hands around Draco's neck and without any sign of doing it, kissed him passionately.

In the meantime, in real Hogwarts, Harry and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor's dungeon. It was almost a week since there was no sign of Hermione. The whole school was worried about them. Dumbledore declared the Forbidden Forrest for even more forbidden than it was until then, since they thought that something in the forest got them. Nobody knew where Hagrid was either.

"It's killing me that she's somewhere out there, alone with Malfoy" Ron said.

"I never thought you'd be jealous" Harry answered, knowing that Ron didn't mean it like that, but he just needed to make him think of something else. It was hard for both of them. The past few days were pure hell. Not just the fact that Hermione was gone, but also the fact that they were unable to help her gave them headaches. What if something happened to her?

"Don't be stupid Harry. Malfoy could hurt her, you know that he's a psycho" Ron answered, sinking deeper into his chair. He would kill Malfoy if he hurt Hermione. He wouldn't care about the laws or anything else.

"He could never hurt Hermione, she's too much of a good wizard" Harry responded, trying to convince Ron, and himself.

Then, the door of their room shut open. It was no one else but Dumbledore himself.

"May I enter, boys?" he asked.

"Professor" Harry said, standing up. "Of course you can".

"Everyone's watching the Quidditch game between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Although I can understand why you two are not feeling like watching the game, I think that leaving the room for a while would be helpful".

"I cannot just go outside and act like everything's ok, because it isn't. I have to go and find her!" he said.

"Calm down, Ronald. Even if you go and look for her, you will not find her. We have our best teachers searching for them day and night, have faith".

"Hmpf, faith" Ron said "What if we find her dead?"

Harry shivered in his chair, but he said nothing.

"We won't, Ron. I'm pretty sure that she is in good hands"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hermione!" Ron shouted happily, as he saw the girl enter the room. It was the sixth evening since she was missing, and now that she appeared, he didn't waste any time. He jumped out of his chair, kissing her instantly.

She didn't seem to be in a bad condition. It looked like she didn't miss anything vital for life, wherever she'd been. Her clothes were all right, she didn't seem to suffer starvation, dehydration either. She was perfectly fine. And in that moment, she also felt like it.

Feeling Ron's soft lips touching hers again was the most beautiful feeling in the world, or at least one of them…

She shivered.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ron asked, stroking her cheek.

"Yeah, sure" Hermione answered, "just a little exhausted, I'll be fine".

But the truth was different. The beautiful feeling of touching Ron's lips reminded her of something else she sensed that day, something she'd never thought she would've enjoyed that much, another kiss, which didn't feel only beautiful, but magical too.

Then, she felt someone else hugging her. Harry's bright smile made her see all their years together in the piece of a second, and she suddenly felt extreme guilt for kissing Draco.

"Where have you been?!" he asked, hugging her even harder. "We thought you'd never come back! Does Dumbledore know that you returned?"

"Yeah, he does. Boys, are you gonna hate me if I go to bed now? I'm so tired!" she said, trying to sound convincing. She wasn't tired, not at all, but she couldn't stand there and look into their eyes and telling them lies, until she made up her mind.

"Good night" Harry said, hugging her again.

"Night" she heard Ron, as he kissed her. "I love you".

She went upstairs, mumbling something which sounded like "Love you too". She couldn't tell him that she loved him after what she'd done. Taking a cold shower didn't help clear her head, neither did trying to fall asleep. So, she just lied in her bed, gazing at the emptiness of the room.

Then she remembered.

"Woah" was everything he had said after they'd broken the kiss. She'd felt so ashamed, that she couldn't hide it. He had seemed shocked. Why had she done it? She didn't like him. She loved Ron. Besides, Draco Malfoy was unable to feel love, and to be loved. It was a fact. She couldn't change it. But then, she remembered again.

Their kiss had lasted for a second. It had just been a kiss on the lips, although she had kissed him with all the passion her body had contained. It was more fantastic than any of Ron's kisses, even though he hadn't returned it the same way. He hated her. She was a muggle. There were so many pure-blood girls falling on their knees for him to like them, why would he even think of liking her? Not that she cared. She didn't like him at all.

"Argh! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she scolded herself silently. She hated herself for kissing him and for enjoying the kiss. She hated him.

In the meantime in the Slytherin's dormitory, Crabbe and Goyle waited for an awesome story about Malfoy killing dragons and other mythical beasts, but they were left waiting. Draco didn't bother answering any of their questions. He didn't even look at them. From time to time, he would say "Can you two be any more stupid?" but that'd be all. In a way, he was too ashamed to look into the eyes of any other Slyhtherin. He felt like he'd betrayed them.

It was already late, but he couldn't sleep. Everyone went to their beds, and he was the only one left in the common room. He sat on a chair, looking at the fire. It reminded him of the fire he had felt when the girl he didn't even like had kissed him.

He had kissed a lot of girls before her. It was something he'd learnt from his father. Girls were nothing special. They were there for fun. One day, his father always told him, he'd find a girl, like his father had found his mother, who'd bring his son to the world, his own flesh and blood, but that'd be her only role. Girls meant nothing, they were useless.

But still, when she'd kissed him, he'd felt like his soul melting. He'd never held anything as innocent as her before. She was the most beautiful sensation he had ever experienced. Did he like her? Was it possible that he was into a muggle, Weasley's muggle?

And so, he spent all the night thinking about something, dreaming about something which felt too beautiful to ever be true.

The next day, the first class they had to attend was potions. Snape, who was their potions teacher, seemed to be in a good mood, which was very unusual when it came to him.

"So, since you all probably hope that we'll do nothing in this class, just the same as you do in the rest of your classes, I decided to do the very opposite. We're having a little test today".

That sentence explained his good mood completely. Teachers, especially Snape, loved surprise-tests, since, for them, it was an opportunity to terrorize the students legally. The whole class started mumbling something about sending letters home, catching the next train or calling their lawyers.

"Silence!" Snape shouted so loudly, that every single person in the room froze in fear. "Since the most of you are incapable of learning the simple matter on their own" he said, looking to Harry, then to Ron, "I decided to let you work in pairs".

"Since Voldemort couldn't kill you, Snape decided to do it" Ron giggled.

"At least we're gonna die together" Harry laughed back.

"So" Snape said, much louder than necessarily "I see that some of the Gryffindors over here can't wait for us to start. I'll tell you who your partner is. Weasley, please take a place next to Longbottom".

"What?!" Ron asked angrily, but regretted it immediately. "You can't separate me from Harry"

"You won't miss the spotlight. Longbottom is very famous too, for his missing brains" the teacher answered, not leaving any time for the ginger haired boy to respond. Instead, he went on.

"Miss Granger, please take a seat next to Mr Malfoy" he said. Then, he read the rest of the pairs, but Hermione didn't take any awareness of it. Instead, she walked slowly, coming closer to Malfoy. She tried to make it less awkward than it was, since they hadn't talked a word after their weird kiss, but it was impossible. You could've cut the awkwardness with a knife.

He pretended to be reading the instructions which he had written in before, but he didn't feel any less awkward than her. Hoping that the class would end before she managed to reach his table, he looked at the watch. Five minutes had passed since the beginning. He wished he would know how to apparate, but he didn't.

"Hi" she said rapidly, as she sat next to him.

"Hey" he answered.

"Listen, Draco" she said, realizing that she couldn't cope with the weirdness of the situation, "what I did back there, I didn't mean it" she said, lying. "I just got all happy and I overre…"

"Of course" he interrupted her. "You didn't mean it, I understood it immediately. No sweat".

"I really am sorry" she went on. "I just wan…"

"Granger" he said, getting all cool again "there's nothing to be sorry for. It's not like I fell for you and you broke my heart" he let a fake laugh out. "It's cool, really".

Hermione's stomach turned. She felt like a troll would hit her in the chest with all his power.

"R…really?" she said, trying not to sound hurt. "Alright then, let's finish this" she pointed to the potion, but it was obvious that that wasn't the only thing she meant.

Their potion turned out to be perfect. The class was already finished, and the two of them were the only ones who had passed the test. But instead of feeling proud, she just wanted to go to her room and cry her soul out.

"Before you leave, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, may I have a word?" Snape said. His facial expression made it clear that it was no question. Hermione inhaled deeply, walking towards his table. Malfoy walked ten steps behind her. In a couple of minutes, there was nobody in the room but the two of them and their suddenly-not-so-grumpy teacher.

"So" Snape started, "You two were lost in the forest, for six days straight? That's what you told professor Dumbledore, isn't it?"

Hermione couldn't answer. She didn't feel like talking. She just stood there, looking at the wall behind Severus.

"Yes" Draco answered, not really in the mood to talk either.

"And you survived without having anything to eat? Or have the two of you practiced hunting?"

"We weren't hungry" Hermione answered, grumpily.

Snape examined her face with his eyes. He was searching for a trace of lying, but all he could find was something similar to depression.

"You missed many lessons. It's absolutely necessary that you attend external classes to keep up with your classmates. I'd like you to start with potions today. It won't last more than one week" he said, making it clear that the discussion, or better said, the presentation of his idea to the both of them was done.

"What?!" Ron asked, while Hermione was telling him and Harry the whole story. Of course, she skipped the part where she fell for Draco and kissed him. "You need to attend external classes together with that piece of rubbish? I cannot believe it, as if you didn't suffer enough in the forest already".

"It's just a couple of hours more, I'll survive" she said.

The classes were just as awkward as she thought they'd be. The both of them were secretly mad at each other, Hermione, for him not liking her, and Draco, for her not liking him. And the both of them were too proud to tell the truth.

The next couple of days, Hermione spent writing an essay in arithmancy. It has always been her favorite subject, and it was a good way of getting out of Ron's, Harry's, but also Draco's way. She spent her whole time in the library, writing about predicting the future using numbers. And then, three days after their return, she had to hand it to the teacher.

She woke up, feeling enthusiastic about her homework. She couldn't wait to get her perfect grade and to hear the teacher telling her how flawless her text was. She took a shower, put her robe on and went to the common room. She was more than surprised when she found her homework on the coffee table. She took it, planning on proof-reading it once again, although she knew that there was nothing to correct any more. But when she started reading, her heart almost stopped beating. Instead of all her citations and quotes from most scientific books she could find, every word was replaced with the word "muggle".

"Muggle, you say?" she asked loudly, drawing attention of every other Gryffindor in the room. "Who. Did. This?" she asked, exhaling angrily trough her nose. She ignored Ron, who was trying to calm her down, or Harry, who told him to better let go of her.

Then, one girl said:

"I heard Crabbe and Goyle last night. I thought I was dreaming since I had no idea how they could've entered but…"

And before she could finish, Hermione was already out of the dungeon.

She hit the picture hanging in front of the entrance to the Slytherin's dungeon with her fists, using all the energy she had.

"Malfoy open up!" she shouted. Then, she started hitting the picture again.

"Stop it, lady, please. You're hurting me" but she ignored it. She finally stopped when a student opened the door.

"Where's Malfoy?!" she asked with a threatening voice.

"Somewhere near the forest I guess. How am I supposed to know?" the girl who was standing in front of her said, raising an eyebrow.

"He better be there" Hermione said, running towards the Forbidden Forest.

She couldn't believe that she actually felt like falling for him. She even thought that deep inside, he'd be a nice person, someone with a big heart, someone capable of loving, but he wasn't. He was the same idiot as Ron always said.

"You, you!" she shouted when she saw him sitting at the very entrance to the forest. She was searching for a word to describe him, but she couldn't think of anything suitable enough.

"Woah, hey, what's wrong?" he asked, standing up, obviously surprised, not positively by the way.

"What's wrong?! You're asking me what's wrong?! My parents are muggles, so what? You think that there is any difference between…"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to interrupt her, but she didn't stop.

"Only because both of your parents are wizards you feel special, don't you? Well let me tell you something, you aren't! I spent hours working on this, and you send that two stupid morons to destroy my homework! Is that how Malfoys deal with their problems? You send other people to destroy them for you? You…"

But before she could go on, she felt two strong hands grabbing her ankles, and the softest lips in the world kissing her. She tried to make him let go of her, but he didn't. Instead, he kept kissing her passionately, much more than she had done when she had kissed him for the first time. Then, she relaxed, getting completely lost in the sensation. He let go of her arms, putting one hand on the back of her head, the other on her back. Then, he pulled her closer, so that his chest was touching hers.

She stroked his neck with her hands, completely forgetting that there was a whole living world around them.

"I…" Draco said, finally letting go of her. "It was the only way to make you shut up"

Hermione didn't say anything. She just stood there like frozen.

"I had nothing to do with what happened to your homework" Draco said. He was trying to…he wanted too…No, he had no idea what he was doing there.

"I understand" Hermione said, still too shocked to say anything else.

"Yeah" Draco managed to say.

"I should go" the girl said, when she finally seemed to have enough air. "Ron is waiting for me"

"Of course, Ron is waiting for you" Draco said, with the same frozen facial expression as before. She enjoyed the kiss, he knew it, no matter what she was saying, no matter who was waiting for her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, sorry for using "rod" instead of "wand" in the previous chapters. If you spot any other mistakes, please tell me. And don't forget to leave a review, since otherwise I will not know what to write. If you have any super magical ideas, don't you dare not telling them to me! Jk, just enjoy reading 3**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The next morning was too sunny for anyone to stay asleep. It seemed that the sun wasn't more than two feet apart from their windows. Some students tried to keep their eyes closed and hope that it would go away soon, since it was weekend. But with the lightening so strong, it was impossible for them to keep enjoying the softness of their beds.

Hermione stood up, obviously the only one who was glad to be awake that early. She entered the bathroom, making plans on how her day should develop. She was a morning person, because on one hand, it meant more time available for studying. She had what seemed like a million things to get done, and there was nothing worse than not having enough time for it.

But on the other hand, sleeping longer meant less contact with Ron. She could barely look into his eyes after her kiss with Draco from the day before. She tried to convince herself that she didn't feel anything but disgust, that Draco had told the truth and kissed her only to make her shut up, that he had pulled her so close to his chest only to make her stop trying to hit him.

"Argh!" she said, splashing her face with cold water. Taking a look into the mirror, she tried to make herself forget about the event completely, but the harder she tried, the more memories returned. She couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach, and she hated herself for it.

In the meantime, the Slytherin's dormitory got almost completely empty. The head of their house, Professor Severus Snape, entered their dungeon while everyone was still asleep, woke them up without sparing on voice and made them be in the great hall in less than ten minutes. The only one who seemed to be overseen by him was Draco Malfoy. Taking his pajama pants off, he thought about the kiss from the day before.

He tried to convince himself that she was no different than any other girl he had before, that she was just one more chick who would do anything for him. But then, thinking of her as of a "chick" made him feel bad. And she wouldn't do anything for him. She would do anything for Weasley, but for him, she'd do nothing.

"Damn it, Draco!" he shouted, kicking the coffee table in front of him. It fell over, together with all the glasses which were on it. Not watching, he stepped on the broken glass pieces, letting a silent moan in pain out.

"Shit" he said, putting his robe on. He didn't even look at his injury. Putting some socks on, he hurried into the great hall. 

In the meantime, the Gryffidors woke up too.

"Since when do we have two suns?" George Weasley, Ron's older brother asked, as he looked out of the window.

"Three" he heard his twin-brother, Fred answer.

The sun didn't only seem like being two feet away from their windows, it was placed there. And in addition, there was one sun covering every single one of the windows in the Gryffindor's dungeon.

"Someone must really want us to w…w...ake up in time" George said, yawning.

"Too bad" Fred said, going back to bed. He took one of the fake wands he and his brother had developed in the holidays, waited for it to turn into really dark sunglasses, which also contained fairy dust to make people who wear them sneeze and put them on. Completely forgetting about the dust, he jumped out of his bed, sneezing like a gorilla.

"Was this your idea!?" he asked George, obviously awake enough to never go to bed again.

"Nope, all yours. See" George answered, pointing at a small "F" letter at the bottom of glasses. "There's even your signature on it".

And so, one by one, everyone dressed in their robes and went to the great hall for breakfast.

Before she could leave the room, Hermione took a deep breath in. She was about to sit next to Ron, but look directly at Malfoy. Would she manage to avoid the eye contact? Would she be convincing enough, pretending that everything was just the same as a month ago? She knew that she wouldn't.

The great hall seemed different than usual. It was much more decorated, making some students wonder if it was Christmas already. It wasn't, and so they took a seat at their usual places. Hermione took a look at the teachers' table. Hagrid was sitting in his chair. He seemed to be okay, and she smiled in relief. Unintentionally, she looked at Malfoy, who, even though he didn't like Hagrid, smiled because the blood on the coat was definitely not his, which made him wonder whose it could've been then.

"Good morning, fellow students" they heard Dumbledore calling. Dumbledore was a very old man, but he seemed to be in his best years. He has been the school's headmaster for many years, and he definitely was everyone's favorite, well, at least the majority's.

"I am glad to announce, that Professor Hagrid returned safely from his journey and that thanks to him, we can finally reveal the big surprise we prepared for you. Today in a week, we will declare the Dragon Games as opened!"

The hall expeditiously filled with whispers, some louder than the others. Students have never heard of something called "Dragon Games" before. Was it possible that there was a new game in Hogwarts, like quidditch probably?

"Silence!" They heard Dumbledore shouting as loud as he could. Every single person in the room froze in place immediately. "Please" he went on with a soft voice. "Let me explain. In our culture, dragons are presented as dangerous and untamed creatures. Owning one is strictly forbidden" he said, looking at Hagrid, whose cheeks became pink.

"But as a great lover of all magical creatures, Professor Hagrid convinced me that they can have a caring side too. And after many years of testing his theory, I realized that it is true, indeed. So, I decided to let you all experience the personality of these wonderful creatures. The games will go like this: two Gryffindors, two Slytherins, two Rawenclaws and two Hufflepuffs, a girl and a boy from each, are going to compete with and against each other. There will be four rounds. The first round will show, who of you has a chance to compete. After the first round, we will know which ones of you are going to present their houses. I will tell you more about the other three rounds after we get done with the first one. Now, everyone who has a wish to compete can write their names on a sheet and set it into…" he said, lightening a little flame in the air in front of him "…this little flame over here. Don't come too close. And don't come at all if you are less than seventeen years old".

And in less than ten seconds, the half of the hall was holding sheets and writing their names on them, running towards the fire in hope to be the first ones to sign up for the competition.

"We have to take part in this competition! Whatever it is, it sounds awesome!" Ron said in fascination, signing a small sheet of paper. Harry did the same. Hermione was the only one who seemed to dwell on her decision.

"Come on, Hermione" Harry said "It's going to be legendary. We need a genius mind to present Gryffindor" he smiled, convincing her.

"Oh, fine boys, I'll do it" she wrote her name on a small piece of paper and went towards the fire. Putting it in there made her regret her decision immediately. It seemed like something really dangerous, which wasn't her thing at all.

On her way back, she walked pass Draco, who seemed to ignore her completely. She ignored him too, but she couldn't help but notice that Crabbe and Goyle were not with him. She knew what was up as soon as she turned her brain on again.

After everyone signed up for the games, a rich, beautiful breakfast was served. Everyone ate like insane, except of her. She couldn't help but look at Draco, feeling a strong need to talk to him. And then, before everyone else, Draco left the room, walking in a strange way. She, not even thinking of what she was doing, followed him instantly.

He didn't notice her. Taking his shoe of, he cursed something silently. His sock was full of blood. He hadn't thought that his injury was that serious.

"Draco" she said, coming closer to him. His mien changed, and she couldn't define if positively or negatively.

"Granger" he responded, putting his shoe on rapidly.

"What happened to your foot?" she asked, looking worried. She knew how dangerous injuries were. Small scratches could get infected and kill you, simple as that.

"Nothing" he answered. His voice made it clear that he wanted her to leave, which of course, didn't mean that she would listen to him.

"I'm not blind" she answered, looking at his, now also bloody, black shoe.

"Yes you are" he said. "If you weren't, you would be in there with Potter and Weasley" he said, stepping onto his foot unwittingly. "Oh, crap!" he cried in pain.

"I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey" Hermione said, trying to ignore his sentence about her being blind. She knew what he meant. If she were smart, she would've stayed with her boyfriend in there, leaving him and his demons alone. But she wasn't, and she couldn't get enough of problems, so she just didn't listen to him.

"Go back to the breakfast, Granger" he said, sounding irritated. He wasn't, but he tried as well as he could to sound like it, so she would let go of him. But secretly, he really liked her presence…

"That was no question" she answered, helping him to stand up straightly. It didn't take long, and they were in the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey looked really mad when she saw his foot. She was angry that he didn't watch out and she thanked God that it wasn't something more serious. Although it was far less dangerous than it looked and felt like, he had to spend the night in the hospital wing, until his skin completely recovered, which meant that he would have to stay there for twenty four hours.

"Thanks for your help" he said to Hermione, after the old lady had left the room. He was about to tell her to go, to leave him alone, but he was too scared that she would listen to him.

"I owed you one anyway" Hermione smiled, sitting next to his bed. "You saved my life back there, remember?"

Of course he remembered. While they'd been in the other universe, separated from the Hogwarts they knew, he protected her from a giant snake. He hadn't known it back then, but the one week of being alone with her was the most beautiful week of his life.

"Yeah, I do" he smiled, looking away, but not for too long, since he couldn't help looking into her eyes. She didn't seem to be bothered by it.

But then, she remembered. Ron.

"Um" she said, smiling awkwardly and looking at the clock. "I should probably go, you want to have your peace and quiet, and I…"

"No" he said. It was more of a reflex than of a really good thought-through answer, but it was too late to change it after it was already said. "Stay"

Hermione's heart started beating like a snitch. Her cheeks got red, and her voice seemed to disobey her completely.

"Um, okay, I guess I… could, um, stay a little" she smiled awkwardly.

Draco wasn't used to seeing her in awkward situations. She has always been the girl who knew everything, who was prepared for all, never getting embarrassed, but in that moment, she looked so cute that he couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks" he said.

"May I ask you something?" she said.

"As if a "no" would prevent you from doing it" Draco responded. They both laughed shortly.

"Yesterday, why were you sitting there?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You mean, at the entrance to the forest, when you came with the attempt to beat the crap out of me?" he asked, and couldn't help but laugh again. He never laughed that much with someone. It seemed like she had an aura that affected him a great deal.

"Yes, that's what I mean" she said, laughing too.

Then, Draco licked his lips, as if preparing himself for saying something which should not be said.

"I remembered our detention" he said. "I wanted to experience it all over again, so I went to the place where it all started"

Hermione's eyes sparkled.

"And…did you…experience it all over again?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"I experienced something much more wonderful" he responded, remembering their kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Nobody remembered Hogwarts being in such a rush ever before. The students, even though not knowing what exactly the games were going to be like, tried to prepare themselves for it. The older ones spent every moment of their time speculating about the competition, forgetting to eat. Some said that it was going to be the modern version of gladiators. They said that their sources had given them classified information and that the students would have to fight untamed dragons with nothing but a sword and a shield. No lives would be spared, they said, even though they were still sitting at the breakfast, and not more than ten minutes had passed after Dumbledore, their Headmaster with really long silver hair, and a beard which seemed to be even longer, had announced the games.

Ron and Harry were having such a deep, dynamic conversation about winning the game and getting points for Gryffindor, that they didn't even notice that Hermione had been gone for a while already. Instead, they were bothered by something else.

"But how are we both supposed to pass the first round? Dumbledore said that only one girl and one boy can present their houses" Ron asked, hoping that Harry would come up with a plan, a reasonable one.

"I don't know, but if it's going to be like Dumbledore said, than I think that you and Hermione should fight for Gryffindor" the boy answered. "What I hope is that Voldemort isn't the one behind all this, again".

"Shhhh!" Ron shivered at the sound of the forbidden name. "But still, I don't think so. Speaking of Hermione, where is she?"Ron asked, looking around him.

"Probably in the library, reading about dragons" Harry joked, perhaps really believing that she would be there.

But she wasn't. She was nowhere where she, in her opinion, should've been. And even thought it felt really wrong being there, on Draco Malfoy's side in the hospital wing, she couldn't think of being somewhere else in that moment.

"What have you done to Crabbe and Goyle?" she asked, trying to avoid eye contact. She tried to hide her blush and the sparkle in her eyes when she heard that Draco loved their kiss. She had the feeling that she would never be as happy as when she heard those words.

Malfoy noticed that, indeed, but not wanting to put her into an awkward situation and knowing that she had a loser boyfriend she probably even liked, he answered her question.

"Only I can make jokes about your parents being muggles" he said, laughing. "May I ask you something?"

"As if a "no" would prevent you from doing it" Hermione answered, repeating his words from before.

"I don't know how to say this…I'm not really an expert in emotions" he said, and she knew what was about to come. Her heart started beating like insane again. Her mind was already developing millions of potential situations which could've happened after their conversation, but she tried her best to still seem calm on the outside.

"I really need to talk to you" he finally said.

"You already are" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"This is just not it" he answered. He put his index finger and his thumb between his eyes, pressing so hard that two red spots were to be seen after he had put his hand back on the bed. "I need to talk to you, alone"

"You mean, going back there?" Hermione asked, opening her eyes widely."But Draco, it's probably extremely dangerous. We don't even know if it's allowed to know about that, let alone to be there on purpose. I don't know if I can do that."

"We were there for a week, and we met one monster only. This time we'll have our wands. In fact, by being here with me, you're doing something very dangerous" he said, sounding like he'd just revealed the whole truth about himself. He waited, knowing that that was probably the moment she realized that she did love her boyfriend much more and returned to the great hall, not looking at him ever again. But she didn't.

"Oh my goodness, fine" she finally answered. A slight trace of regret was heard in her voice, but knowing her, the fact that she accepted was completely enough. "What's your plan?"

"To be honest, I didn't really think I'd come this far" he laughed, remembering how he swore that he would let go of her. "Let me think".

And for five minutes, they both thought so hard, that it looked like they would be planning on robbing Gringotts. Hermione had her eyes closed, her hands put each at one side of her face. Draco just sat there, stroking his lower lip with his thumb, when they both shouted:

"I know!"

"Okay, you go first" Hermione said.

"Tomorrow, Hagrid is going to be in the castle, helping Dumbledore prepare those weird games they're working on. We'll get the chance to enter his house and then go to the forest. Crabbe and Goyle are too stupid to notice anything, so I'll just be waiting at his hut for you to come. We should go early, though, so we can be back by noon.

"Crabbe and Goyle are stupid, but Ron isn't. He definitely is going to wonder about me disappearing all of a sudden".

"Than just think of an excuse" Malfoy said, thinking of something reasonable. "Tell him that you're going to the Diagon Alley to meet your parents because of a family emergency. He won't tell you that you're not allowed to leave Hogwarts because he'll think that your parents already arranged everything with Dumbledore".

Hermione smiled.

"What?" Malfoy asked, wondering about her laughing at his brilliant plan.

"Nothing. I just never thought of you as of an intelligent person".

"Woah" Draco laughed, acting insulted, but he wasn't. "I'll try to take that as a compliment"

"It was a compliment" the girl answered, as her cheeks ran red. Against all her inner voices telling her to return to the breakfast, she followed the wild feeling her heart gave her and took his hand. For a moment, she was just holding it and looking at him.

"Okay young lady, you should let the patient rest now" she heard Madam Pomfrey say. Instantly, she let go of Draco's hand, standing up as if she had just realized that she was sitting on a hedgehog.

"See you tomorrow then" Draco said, before she left the room without saying anything. It sounded a lot like a question. Indeed, he was wondering if she could've changed her mind already.

"Yeah, you will" she said, blushing as she went out the she returned to the great hall, the breakfast was already over, but all the students were still sitting there. Ron and Harry didn't seem to miss her a lot, and she was happy because of that.

"Where have you been?" she heard Ron asking, as she took a seat next to him. He put his arm around her shoulders, which made her feel quite uncomfortable. In a weird way, she wanted Draco to be the one by her side.

"I…" she answered, thinking quickly of something that would suite her. "I was in the library, reading something about dragons. Did you know that if you want to tame one, you need to be there for him from the moment he gets born? And in a week, they already reach the size of an adult dragon. Quite unbelievable, isn't it?"

"Just as we thought" Harry answered. "Did you notice that Malfoy's gone? I remember seeing him this morning".

"You're right" Ron said, looking at his place, then all over the Slytherin's table. "Did you see him leaving?" he asked, turning to Hermione.

Her stomach rotated, as she tried to control her blush. "Um…no, I don't even remember seeing him this morning at all" she said, sounding as convincing as possible.

"I bet he's sending an owl to his father, asking him to pay a visit to Dumbledore and tell him to let the little Draco pass the first round instantly" he said. "My father has contacts" he said, imitating Draco. The both boys laughed, and Hermione tried to put a fake smile on, too.

"He would never do that" she said, not really thinking if it was the right thing to say.

"Are you defending him?" Ron asked, eating a chocolate frog from his pocket.

"No, I am not" she said, accentuating each word strongly. "I just thought that he wouldn't have a chance to do that, since this whole game is Hagrid's idea, and he is the one deciding who passes and who does not".

"You're probably right" Ron said. Then, they switched the topic from Draco to dragons being really hard to tame and how quidditch on dragons would be something legendary, so Hermione took one of her books out, pretending to be reading. But, she wasn't.

She was thinking about the next day, when she would finally get a chance to talk to Draco about everything that was going on lately. She had never experienced such strong emotions for anyone in a so short period of time. In fact, the feelings she had for Draco seemed to be stronger than the ones she had for Ron. For a moment, she felt really guilty about lying to him.

Draco thought about the same thing while he was lying in the bed. He didn't care that he had to spend a whole Saturday in pure boredom, since he had something to look forward too. He thought about various ways to tell her how he felt about her, considering every one of her possible answers.

And so, sunk deep in his thoughts, he didn't even realize that it was afternoon already.

He never, not even once, thought about the game, until Madam Pomfrey entered the room again.

"Oh Merlin" she said, looking really irritated. "The headmaster wants you to be in the great hall right now, so please, if you don't feel any pain in your foot, feel free to leave"

He didn't wait for her to tell it twice. He jumped out of his bed, put his shoes back on and hurried into the great hall.

He went to his table, where Crabbe and Goyle were sitting now too. Their hands were in their pockets and it was clear that Draco had done something to their fingers. Still, that didn't prevent them from taking their usual position, acting like Draco's bodyguards. He took a seat between them, having a good sight of the Gryffindor's table.

Hermione was sitting there. She was alone, and she obviously blushed when she saw Draco entering the room. He didn't take his eyes off her, and she was trying to maintain the eye contact, feeling rather uncomfortable, since she could feel her cheeks burn. Her shyness made him giggle, and she couldn't help but giggle too.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, as he took a seat next to her.

She didn't see him coming, and she felt really bad when she saw Draco's mien changed, as he looked away from the sight of her and her boyfriend.

"Hagrid" she lied. Ron pulled her closer, and she felt the urge to stand up and leave the room immediately, which was absolutely impossible, since Dumbledore was just starting his speech.

"My dear students" he said, holding a golden cup in his hand. "As you all already know, the Dragon games are announced for the end of the next week. Well, since I am really excited about the games starting, I decided to let them begin in two days. On Monday, the games will be opened"

And everyone jumped on their feet. Throwing their hats in the air, they all cheered. The great hall was soon filled with sounds of jubilation, and Dumbledore didn't seem to be bothered by that. It seemed like a party was about to be thrown, and everyone was very enthusiastic about it, except of Draco, of course. He didn't bother staying there any longer. He left the hall and didn't show up until next morning. He wasn't asleep though. How could he?

And he wasn't the only one. Hermione wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible, since the brain has no sense of time while sleeping and the time would've passed faster, but the harder she tried, the harder it seemed to be. So, she lied the whole night in her bed, not closing an eye, but daydreaming about the day that was about to follow.

She left her bed much earlier than she usually would have. She knew that she would meet Draco in five hours, but the time seemed to short for everything to be done. She wanted to look perfect, taking two showers and washing her hair, even though she had washed it the past evening. And before she could've blinked, it was time for her to leave.

She didn't wear her robe on that day, since she had told Ron that she was about to go to London and meet her parents, and she needed to look like a muggle. She wondered if it would bother Draco, since he didn't like muggles at all. She thought about what the day would be like. What if he had decided that did hate her after all and didn't show up at all? Or what if they met and he told her that he was just joking, making a fool out of her? Her hands shook and she was on the brink of turning back, when she saw him close to Hagrid's hut. Her happiness was infinite. She took a really deep breath in, gave herself a couple of motivating thoughts and went towards him.

"Hey" she said, feeling her cheeks burn again. "How long have you been waiting?"

"About five hours, maybe six" he said, smiling. "I couldn't sleep".

"Me neither" she answered, now standing in front of him, looking directly into his blue eyes.

"I thought you wouldn't show up" he said, but as she didn't respond, he realized that she thought that she wouldn't show up, too. So, her love for Weasley was stronger than he'd thought.

"Come" he said, entering Hagrid's hut. "We have to go here first" he said, now talking more to himself than to her. "Now we can leave again"

And so, they did the whole ritual of walking all over again. They looked ridiculous, and they felt like it too, since they were both scared to think what would've happened if the portal didn't open.

Taking one last step, they walked into the forest. And before they could've said "good luck" to each other, they felt the gravity disappearing and the earth spinning like insane.

Opening their eyes, they both found themselves in the Gryffindor's girls' dormitory. They realized that they would always return to the place they slept for the last time while being in the "second" Hogwarts.

Standing up, Draco smiled at the sight of her clothes. He didn't seem to have noticed it before.

"What?" Hermione asked. "I can't go to London wearing my hat and robe".

"Understand" he said, still smiling as they left the dormitory.

"So, what did you want us to talk about?" Hermione asked, knowing that now it was about to come. She did manage to keep her voice calm, but her hands were shaking like crazy. Draco's presence made her forget about her best friend, about her boyfriend and the fact that he was waiting for her to return from a meeting with her parents, about the fact that, when not with her, Draco was evil. She didn't care about the guilt she was supposed to feel. Neither did she care about her inner voice, telling her that it was the right moment to stop all the madness. She just wanted to make that day last forever.

"I never thought starting a conversation would be this hard" Draco smiled awkwardly.

"You're not being shy, now are you?" the girl teased. It made her calm down a little, since she realized that she wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"Never" he laughed. "Can we take a seat?" he asked, as they passed by the place they sat at the last time. It felt familiar and it refreshed his memory.

"Sure" Hermione answered. She followed him, as he walked to a corner in the garden.

"You know" she said, after they made themselves comfortable. "You don't have to say it".

"Say what?" Draco didn't really understand her. The whole point of them coming to the place was about them talking about the events which occurred in the past week. Why did she suddenly want to skip the topic? Did she, in the last moment, realize that she loved Weasley way too much to even talk to Draco about what happened?

"I don't know, whatever you were about to say. If you don't mean it, there is no point of saying it".

Draco couldn't believe his ears. Was she the one who dwelled on him, when just a second ago, he was the one who thought that she wouldn't want him? Suddenly, he had so many words in his mind to describe his feelings, that it would take the whole week of talk only to convince her that they were real. Without cerebrating, he took her face in his hand and kissed her with all of his emotions. It was their first real kiss, and it felt more intense than it probably should have.

She seemed to be surprised, and she was, indeed. Her mind was too confused to think clearly, so she just let his tongue guide her. Kissing him like that made her feel uncomfortable, since he seemed to be very skilled in it. So, the rumors she'd heard about him spending the most of his free time with girls were actually no rumors. But then, she got lost in the sensation when she felt him biting her lip. Suddenly, she didn't care about not being skilled, since the only boy she had ever kissed before, was Ron. She just put her hands in his hair, stroking every single inch of his head. He put his hands on her waists and pulled her up, so that now, she was sitting on his lap.

He broke the kiss for a second, just to look into her eyes. She didn't expect that.

"I'm doing it wrong, right?" she asked, but before she got an answer, he had already kissed her again. She felt him laugh, and it made her cheeks blush again. Then, she felt something else. His hands made their way down to her hips, and she was a little scared that she would move them even farther, all the way to her butt.

But that wasn't his intention. What he had done was pulling her again, so that she lied on the grass, with him on top of her. He watched out not to put his weight on her. One of his hands was placed on the hard ground, sustaining his weight, while the other was still on her hip. He gave her short kisses before his lips wandered to her right ear, down to her neck. He wanted to suck on her neck, to mark her with his tongue so badly, but he knew that it would only prevent more of their moments like that one from happening ever again.

He stopped kissing her, now only looking into her eyes again. She had them closed, and she blushed heavily after opening them. But that wasn't the only reason for her cheeks burning. Draco's fingers were wandering down her leg, and she felt like there was more to come. Too scared that he would just go away if she tried to stop him, she decided not to say anything. She wasn't ready to go any further with him, but who know, it probably felt beautiful. Unable to control it, her body tensed.

Draco didn't miss that. He got his fingers back to her cheeks again, stroking them slightly, like she was the most fragile thing in the entire world.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"What for?" he asked, still stroking her face.

"For not being ready, for, you know…"

"What?" he asked. "That is the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my entire life" he said, laughing. "I would never, ever force you into anything, especially not on our first date"

"So, it's a date?" she asked, blushing again, happy that he wasn't angry.

"It seems like one to me" he answered, giving her what seemed like a hundred short kisses on the lips. Then, he lied back on the grass, letting her rest on his chest.

The thought of returning to Hogwarts wasn't something they wanted in their heads in the moment. The only thing they wanted was to lie on the grass and never have to stand up again. Being tired from not sleeping the whole night, and having Draco's tender fingers stroke her bushy hair, Hermione fell asleep. For Draco, she looked like a goddess. He hated himself for not recognizing her beauty before and basically handing her to Weasley. She was his now, but for how long? As soon as they returned to Hogwarts, she would return to her boyfriend. She didn't have a choice. None of them knew how their relationship would develop in the future, and to be honest, even though he hated Weasley, he knew that he was a better choice for her as long as Draco had those monsters inside of his head. What he never told her was that, after his father had influenced him a great deal, he became a death eater, and that she was on the top of the death eaters' list.


End file.
